The Supplementary Prescribing Course for pharmacists began in 2003 and when legislation changed in 2006 to enable independent pharmacy prescribing, the course was revised and is now known as the Independent and Supplementary Prescribing Course.
This course (Post Graduate Certificate level) is divided into six modules and runs over a ten-month period. It includes 12 days’ in-practice training, the purpose of which is to enable the student to develop and practise clinical examination skills relevant to the condition(s) for which they intend to prescribe. The pharmacist may complete their in-practice training at any point during the ten-month period.
To be eligible for acceptance onto the course, pharmacists must have been practising for at least two years post registration and, in addition, must complete the:
- Eligibility form - To ensure that the most suitable pharmacists apply for and are accepted onto the course.
- Sponsoring organisation agreement - Your employer must sign the agreement guaranteeing their support. Alternatively, if you are a contractor or locum pharmacist you must sign this form yourself.
- Designated Medical Practitioner agreement- When you have identified a suitable mentor both you and the mentor must sign the agreement.
Please note that the course takes place once per year and that all places on the course which begins in April 2019 (Cohort 13) have been allocated. Cohort 13 be will unaffected by the changes outlined below.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) who regulate and accredit Independent Prescribing courses have published new standards for accreditation for all IP courses. NICPLD, like all other providers, will have to undergo re-accreditation to the new standards before providing any courses after Cohort 13. As a result, there will be some changes to the course from Cohort 14 onwards and the application process may change. However, none of this can be confirmed until after accreditation (summer 2019).
All the information below relates to Cohort 13. Any new application forms/information for Cohort 14 onwards will be uploaded onto this website when available. Therefore, do not use the existing application forms below for Cohort 14.